QUICK HITS
HOME SWEET HOME
The Checkers are back at Bojangles Coliseum, where they have been lights out for well over a month. The team’s last regulation loss in Charlotte was on Feb. 11, and they have recorded at least a point in each of their last 10 home games. The franchise record for the longest home point streak in 12, set in the 2018-19 season.LOCKING IT DOWN
The Checkers have tightened things up defensively over their latest stretch of games. They have allowed a total of eight goals over the last five games – surrendering two or fewer in four of those contests – and are 4-1-0-0 over that stretch.They’ll now face down a Hershey squad that has posted the seventh-lowest goals-per-game average in the AHL and has scored two or fewer goals in six of their last eight contests.
DACCORD STANDS TALL
Joey Daccord continues to shine between the pipes after a stellar month of March. The netminder is 6-1-0-0 over his last seven starts and has allowed 11 goals over that span. He has also marked at least 33 saves in seven of his last 10 appearances and four of his last five. He now sits tied for second in the AHL in save percentage and ranks sixth in goals-against average.BACK ON TRACK
After a stretch that saw them score four goals in regulation over four games, the Charlotte offense broke back out Sunday in Cleveland by hanging six goals on the Monsters. That marked the 16th time this season that the Checkers have scored at least five goals in a gameSHORTHANDED SUCCESS
The Checkers notched two shorthanded goals in a single game for the third time this season when they accomplished the feat on Sunday. That gave them three shorthanded goals over the team’s last four games, and the Checkers now have 11 on the season – the third-most in the AHL. On the flip side the Checkers have given up just four shorthanded goals this season – the second-lowest figure in the league.QUOTES
Checkers Head Coach Geordie Kinnear on last weekend's split in Cleveland"We felt after that first game that we could be a little cleaner. When you’re clean you play fast and hard and get guys to the blue paint and good things happen. When you don’t have guys in the blue paint it’s hard to score on guys in the blue paint."
Checkers defenseman Chase Priskie on the Charlotte offense breaking out of its slump
"I don't think that we were doing anything differently than what we usually do. Sometimes the goals fall and sometimes they dont. We kind of hit a patch where we just couldn’t hit the back of the net - hit a lot of posts, just weren’t capitalizing on our opportunities. But that second game in Cleveland we kind of found our stride again. "
Priskie on staying positive when the pucks weren't going in
"We have an extremely experienced leadership group, and their message to the rest of the team was just to continue to play our game. The goals will follow. We had plenty of chances, it just didn’t fall our way. They just calmed the group down and said to just keep playing."
Kinnear on his team's strong defensive play as of late
"It’s a whole group effort. Obviously our goalies have been very good, but collectively everyone is defending properly and playing the right way. It’s not just playing in your own D zone, it’s having possession in the offensive zone. It;s been a mindset all year and we want to continue to be very good at that while putting in more goals than we have in the last little while."
Kinnear on getting players like Gustav Olofsson and Connor Carrick back on the blue line
"We have more levels to get to as a group - obviously they haven’t played together in a long time - but they allow us to play fast when they’re at that elite level. We still have a lot of work in that department though to get to that high level that we want and expect."
Priskie on the key to beating the Bears "They’re an experienced team and they're a deep team. They play hard and play the right way, so for us it’s nothing out of the box. Keep playing our way, play as a five-man unit and we’ll have success."
COMING IN
CLT: 4-0-1-0 in last five games this seasonHER: 1-2-1-1 in last five games this season
WHO TO WATCH
CLT
Henry Bowlby - 3 points in last 3 gamesZac Dalpe - 3 points in last 5 games
Aleksi Heponiemi – 6 points in last 7 games
HER
Aliaksei Protas – 4 points in last 5 gamesBobby Nardella – 4 points in last 5 games
Mason Morelli – 3 points in last 3 games
TUNE IN
Tonight's game starts at 7 p.m. If you can't be at the Coliseum, you can tune in to every broadcast this season with a subscription to the league’s streaming platform AHLTV.As always, the radio broadcast will be available via the Checkers app on iPhone or Android.
